Chapter 137 Is She Jasper's Biological Mom?
DAVID
Bella’s hand slipped into mine, her fingers warm, steady, like a silent anchor in the storm of my thoughts. I could feel her watching me, the way her breath held just a little tighter, as if she were waiting for me to reveal something important, something heavy. Her gaze was soft, patient, but her eyes those eyes were filled with questions. I had to tell her now, before the silence swallowed us whole.
“I need to tell you something,” I began, my voice rough, like I hadn’t used it in years. I pulled in a shaky breath, trying to steady my nerves. “You know I’m Jasper’s biological father, right?”
She didn’t flinch, didn’t pull her hand away. Instead, she just looked at me, her brow furrowed slightly as if processing my words. Her lips parted, and I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. “Yes, I know,” she said quietly, her voice betraying none of the surprise I felt. “Nobody knows except... well, except you. You’ve kept that part of your life a secret.”
I swallowed, nodding, trying to find the right words to keep the walls from crumbling. “I never introduced him to anyone. Never let anyone know about him.” My eyes were fixed on her, but the weight of what I was about to say threatened to crush me. “Jasper doesn’t have a mother.”
She blinked at me, her lips parting in disbelief. Her fingers tightened around mine, like she was trying to anchor herself in the midst of my revelation. “Are you... kidding me? What do you mean by that?” Her voice cracked slightly, like she couldn’t quite comprehend the words. “Everybody has a mother.”
Her confusion mirrored my own when I first learned the truth. I could feel the tension in her body, the way she sat up straighter, as if trying to make sense of what I’d just dropped into the air between us. I held her gaze, not wanting to look away.
I nodded slowly, the words thick in my throat. “No, Bella. He doesn’t. He was... well, he was never supposed to have a mother.” I watched her face shift, her confusion deepening, her brows knitting together in a way that pulled at something deep inside me.
She sank onto the edge of the bed, her legs folding beneath her, and I could see the wheels turning faster now, her thoughts scrambling to keep up with what I was telling her. “How... how is that possible?” she whispered, her voice a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.
I leaned back against the bedframe, my hand slipping from hers as I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to find a way to explain the unexplainable. “It’s a long story,” I muttered, glancing down at my hands. “My grandfather, he wanted a great-grandson. A male heir, someone to carry on the family name. One of his friends told him about this... this technology. It’s called artificial pregnancy something that allows you to have a child without the usual process. My grandfather got obsessed with it.”
I could see her processing, watching me with those sharp, observant eyes. She didn’t interrupt, didn’t question me yet, but I could feel the weight of her thoughts pushing against mine.
“He said he wanted to donate money to this clinic, this facility that did the procedure. And he told me... he told me he wanted me to provide the sperm. Because I wasn’t ready to settle down, not ready to marry. He found an ovary from a woman who sold it for money, and he said as long as I didn’t want him to die without grandkids, I should help him out.”
I let out a bitter laugh, remembering the absurdity of it all. “I was against it, Bella. Didn’t want to be involved, didn’t want any part of it. But my grandfather... he was persistent. So, one night, after I’d been drinking something I never do he took my sperm. And nine months later, he brought me a son. Jasper.”
I could see her struggling to wrap her mind around it, her lips pressing into a thin line as if trying to comprehend the details of my twisted family legacy. “I didn’t believe it at first,” I added, my voice quieter now. “I had to do a DNA test, to prove it. And when the results came back... there was no denying it. Jasper is my son.”
She didn’t say anything at first. She just stared at me, her face a mixture of shock and concern. “Did you ever try to find his mother?” she asked after a long pause, her voice almost timid now, as if afraid to ask the question.
I shook my head, the truth sitting heavy in my chest. “No. I didn’t. I didn’t want to know if she was some gold-digger, someone looking to take advantage of my wealth. And I didn’t want that kind of woman around my son. He deserves better than that.”
Bella shifted on the bed, her eyes still wide. “What was the name of the foundation?” she asked, her curiosity piqued even more.
“NovaGen Institute,” I replied, my heart racing as I watched her process the information. The way she recoiled slightly, as if something about it made her uncomfortable, made my chest tighten.
“NovaGen Institute...” she repeated, her voice barely a whisper. She looked at me as though the ground beneath us had shifted. “I... I donated one of my ovaries to NovaGen Institute once,” she said, her eyes distant now. “It was a long time ago, when I needed money for my father’s hospital bills. I regret it now. I regret doing it.”
The room seemed to go silent. My thoughts swirled, colliding in a chaotic mess of questions. What if... I thought, the realization dawning on me like a freight train.
I leaned forward, my heart pounding in my chest, my voice a whisper, barely audible. “What if you are Jasper’s biological mother?” The words seemed to hang in the air, too heavy, too charged with meaning. “What if that’s why their bond is so strong?”
Bella froze, her eyes widening as the reality of my words sank in. She stared at me, her lips parting in disbelief, her body still, as if I had just shattered the foundation of everything she knew.
I could see her trying to process what I’d just said her mind racing, searching for the right response, but her expression was a mixture of shock and confusion. She looked at me, then down at her hands in her lap, then back up at me, her gaze searching my face for some kind of explanation.
“What... what do you mean by that?” she whispered, the words trembling as they left her mouth. “You think I’m Jasper’s... mother?”
I nodded slowly, my fingers curling into fists at my sides, my own heart thudding painfully. “It’s possible,” I said, my voice low but filled with an urgency I couldn’t hide. “The way you two are together—it’s different. There’s something about the bond you share that feels... deeper, like it’s not just a coincidence. I need to know. I need to find out if you’re the one.”
Her breath hitched in her throat, and she turned away slightly, her eyes distant, looking out the window as if she could escape this conversation just by looking away. But the tension in her body the way her hands clenched together told me she wasn’t anywhere close to escaping the truth.
She shook her head slowly, as though trying to convince herself that what I had said couldn’t be real. “No... no, that’s... impossible,” she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. “I would’ve known, David. I would’ve remembered.”
I stood up, taking a step closer, the urgency in me growing stronger, like a fire building inside. “Bella, think. Think about how strong his connection to you is, how he always seems to gravitate toward you. It’s not just coincidence. There’s something deeper there. Something I can’t ignore.”
Her eyes flicked to me, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of fear in them, mingled with something else something like denial, like she couldn’t or wouldn’t let herself believe what I was saying.
“I—” She stopped herself, swallowing hard as her gaze shifted back to the window, her hands trembling now. “I... I don’t know. I don’t know what to think anymore, David.”
I moved closer, my voice soft but insistent. “I need to know, Bella. I can’t keep wondering, not when everything I’m seeing points to you being his mother. If it’s true, it changes everything. For him, for us.”
She turned to face me again, her expression unreadable, but I could see the conflict in her eyes, the way her thoughts seemed to be spinning faster than she could keep up with. “David, what does this mean? If I am... his mother... what then?”
Her voice was low, almost pleading, as if she needed something more from me—something that would give her answers, or at least a way to make sense of all this.
I didn’t have those answers, though. I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know what the truth would change, but I had to find out. I had to know if the bond between them was more than just a strange coincidence.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly, my voice thick with frustration. “But I can’t ignore it anymore. I need to know, Bella. For him. For both of us.”
She looked at me for a long moment, her face softening, but her eyes still clouded with doubt. I could see the battle within her—the pull to deny it, to push it away, and the pull to believe me, to accept the possibility that everything she thought she knew about herself could be different.
Finally, she sighed deeply, dropping her head into her hands, as if the weight of the conversation had finally crushed her. “I need time, David. I... I need time to think about all of this.”
I nodded slowly, my chest tightening. “I understand. But just... don’t shut me out. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
She didn’t respond right away, but I saw her nod slightly, though she didn’t meet my eyes. Then, without another word, she stood up and walked toward the door, her footsteps heavy with the weight of everything unsaid between us.
The door clicked softly behind her, and I was left standing there, the unanswered question lingering in the air like an invisible thread tying us together. What if Bella really was Jasper’s mother? And if she was... what did that mean for all of us?